With a climate one-half Atlantic and one-half Mediterranean, the winters are cold and long. The summers though are warm and sunny during the day, stimulating the production of tannins and other polyphenols that provide body, color and longevity to the wine. At night, the breeze and cooler temperature avoid plant dehydration, and in the periods of frost risk, the best protection is to be near the river as we are.
The vineyard
The Ebro River creates four big meanders in its way through La Rioja. One of them, between Fuenmayor y Cenicero, two towns devoted to viticulture, is the one where the 80 hectares of vineyard of our winery are planted.
Finca Valpiedra is a spectacular landscape divided into three terraces which slopes down to the river itself, and that our technical team has differentiated into fifteen plots, with altitudes between 406 and 427 meters.
The soils are sandy with a surface of stones and a medium level of limestone. The stones not only give the name to the estate, Valpiedra, but also the capacity of the vineyards to keep the sun warm and to help maturation, as also to inhibit the dehydration of the vines; avoiding the quick evaporation of water in the warm days of summer.
The soil of stones, common in big vineyard areas of the Rhone, is not very usual in Rioja and gives an unmistakable personality to our wines, with a mineral character, balsamic and structure, but always with the characteristic elegance of the best Riojas and Familia Martínez Bujanda wines.